After some time spent getting used to each other, the Golden Eagle's training was finally showing results, and the Reverse Summoning Jutsu had achieved more than expected. Ito Makoto began considering releasing the Golden Eagle from the Konoha Hidden Village.
There was no point in keeping the Golden Eagle in the village. As a medium for the Summoning Technique, its location would determine where Ito Makoto could escape to in the future. If he kept it in the village, then when Danzo hunted him down, he could flee no farther than the village. At most, it would cost Danzo a little more time.
But things would be different if he left it outside the village. Once he was out of Konoha, Danzo couldn't cover everything. When Ito Makoto fled, Danzo wouldn't even be able to catch up.
Still, releasing the Golden Eagle wouldn't be easy. He couldn't just toss it into the sky and call it a day.
Konoha looked quite open, but in reality, a sensory barrier covered its skies. It was like a giant bowl, enclosing the entire village. The only way out was the Konoha Gate.
At the Konoha Gate, specially assigned ninja checked everyone coming and going.
Together, these measures formed Konoha's tight defensive system.
In the world of ninja, there were countless ways to use birds to gather intelligence, so the skies were also a key area that every hidden village defended.
If he released the Golden Eagle from inside the village, the moment it passed through the barrier, Anbu patrols would shoot it down. They might even follow the trail back to him, causing him trouble.
Konoha was a military base, not an ordinary commercial city. It did a good job of hiding that fact, but no matter what, he couldn't let his guard down around Konoha.
Fortunately, his mother, Mika, was a Chunin and had permission to leave and enter Konoha. His own background was clear, and the Golden Eagle was a Ninja Beast licensed by Konoha. If he explained things properly, they should pass inspection.
In the early hours of the morning, while his mother had some free time, Ito Makoto took the Golden Eagle to the Konoha Gate to release it.
The Golden Eagle was large, so Mika had to carry it herself.
Sakura came along too. Compared with Ito Makoto, its owner, she loved the Golden Eagle far more.
"Can't we keep Xiao Jin? I don't want to let it go," Sakura said, her eyes brimming with tears. She loved the Golden Eagle more than anyone. She had even given it a name.
"Sakura, Xiao Jin belongs in the wild. If we keep it cooped up in Konoha, it won't be happy," Ito Makoto consoled her.
Xiao Jin? I think living off someone else isn't so bad either.
With his mother vouching for them, they passed through the checkpoint at the Konoha Gate without trouble. After checking their identities, the guards let them through.
Once they reached an open area, Mika tossed the Golden Eagle into the sky.
The Golden Eagle spread its wings, its two-point-four-meter wingspan like a canopy blocking out the sky, casting a shadow on the ground.
It circled a few times, as if saying goodbye. Then, like a streak of golden lightning, it sped away.
The Golden Eagle's average flying speed was eighty kilometers per hour. In a dive, it could reach more than three hundred kilometers per hour. In terms of speed, it outclassed all the other Ninja Beasts.
Ito Makoto and Sakura waved goodbye from the ground.
Sakura even started to cry.
"It's all right, Sakura. If you want to see Xiao Jin, I can call it back anytime."
"Really?"
"Really."
The three of them returned to Konoha together.
Although the Golden Eagle had seemingly left, it was actually following Ito Makoto's orders and heading somewhere far from Konoha to establish a safe house.
To ensure the Golden Eagle's mission went smoothly, Ito Makoto took control of it through the Rinnegan as soon as he returned home.
His perspective shifted, and his consciousness appeared inside the Golden Eagle's body.
Clouds raced beneath him, the sky stretched above his back, and everything on the ground looked like insects and ants. It felt as though he had the whole world in his grasp.
This feels amazing, Ito Makoto thought.
After being modified by the Rinnegan, the Golden Eagle was no longer an ordinary bird. It could now produce chakra and use ninjutsu. It had also gained a new, special ability.
At Ito Makoto's command, chakra began to gather and flow through the Golden Eagle's body. Its special ability took effect, and its body began to change. It grew longer, its wings spread wider, and its original size increased tenfold. With a wingspan of twenty-four meters, it resembled a giant roc that could reach the sky.
This was the special ability Xiao Jin had awakened after being modified by the Rinnegan's Animal Path: changing its size.
While getting used to the Reverse Summoning Jutsu with the Golden Eagle, Ito Makoto had discovered that the Rinnegan's Animal Path could strengthen creatures and help them awaken special abilities. Xiao Jin had awakened the ability to change its size without even realizing it.
Xiao Jin could now grow ten times larger, becoming a giant eagle with ten times its strength and greater fighting ability. It could also shrink to one-tenth its size, becoming as small as a sparrow to avoid harm.
This wasn't an illusion like the Transformation Technique. It was a genuine change in size. If its body grew ten times larger, then its strength would also increase tenfold, and all its other abilities would change accordingly.
In fact, Ito Makoto wasn't the first to discover this ability of the Animal Path. It was evident from Nagato, the Rinnegan's owner.
In the original story, although the Rinnegan belonged to Uchiha Madara, almost all of its summoning beasts had been raised by Nagato himself.
After all, in Uchiha Madara's eyes, every Summoning Beast other than the Nine-Tails was trash, and the Tailed Beasts from the One-Tail to the Eight-Tails were trash too. Why would he bother raising Summoning Beasts?
But the Summoning Beasts Nagato raised all had unique abilities. The Hellhound, for instance, split apart when injured. The Yata Crow could drop explosive eggs onto the ground from the sky. The Chameleon could turn anyone it touched transparent, making them invisible.
Nagato hadn't come from a prominent clan. As an orphan, he couldn't have inherited these unique Summoning Beasts from his elders. And he wasn't much of a researcher himself, so he couldn't have developed unique Summoning Beasts through research like Orochimaru.
That meant the only possibility was that the Rinnegan's Animal Path had raised these Summoning Beasts through its special ability.
Although the Animal Path seemed insignificant among the Six Paths of Pain, its special abilities were fascinating and distinctive. Ito Makoto was now experiencing the same joy Nagato must have felt.
With a body this enormous, no wild animals along the way would dare pick a fight with him. Controlling the Golden Eagle, Ito Makoto flew east.
The Land of Fire bordered the sea to the east. With no hostile great nations nearby, it was one of the most peaceful regions. The ocean teemed with fish, enough to sustain the Golden Eagle. A safe base established there would be a place he could rely on in the future.
After controlling the Golden Eagle in flight for two days, he finally reached the coast.
A safe base couldn't be too far from people. Ordinary people would struggle to get necessities like firewood, rice, oil, and salt far from a populated town.
Ito Makoto searched along the coastline for signs of people. After half an hour, he found a small fishing village. It was remote and poor, and no ninja forces had gotten involved. It would be a good place to hide if he ever ran into danger.
Once he had settled on the location, Ito Makoto ordered the Golden Eagle to build a nest, then released his control over it.
Golden Eagles usually nested on cliffs. Ito Makoto didn't know how to build one, so it was better to leave the task to the bird.
Through his connection via the Rinnegan, Ito Makoto watched the Golden Eagle find a cliff by the sea, gather branches, and slowly build a nest.
He didn't force the Golden Eagle to find a cave or anything like that. Although that would have made it easier for Ito Makoto to stay there, and a cave could shelter him from the wind and rain, in reality, caves were often cold and damp, crawling with snakes, rats, and insects. Ito Makoto couldn't live in one for long, and an uninhabited cave might cause trouble for the Golden Eagle.
Nature had its own way of doing things. Rather than force his choice on the Golden Eagle, he might as well let it follow its instincts and choose for itself.
Through the Golden Eagle's eyes, Ito Makoto looked at the surroundings.
Though it was on a steep cliff, there was a foothold nearby. That way, using the Reverse Summoning Jutsu wouldn't leave him at risk of falling off the cliff.
Seeing the Golden Eagle struggle to gather branches, Ito Makoto stopped controlling it and went to the outskirts of Konoha to collect some. He tied them into a bundle and brought them home.
He took control of the Golden Eagle and used the Reverse Summoning Jutsu.
After a puff of smoke, Ito Makoto vanished from where he stood and appeared on a cliff along the eastern coast of the Land of Fire.
The strong sea wind stung his face, but it was bearable.
The Golden Eagle wasn't surprised to see Ito Makoto appear. Ito Makoto had already tested the Reverse Summoning Technique on it several times. Without those trials, he wouldn't have dared to travel blindly to the edge of this cliff.
He gave the branches in his hands to the Golden Eagle. Tilting its head, it picked through them, tossing aside the ones it didn't like and using the rest to build its nest.
This guy sure is picky, Ito Makoto thought.
Being here in person was different from seeing the place through the Golden Eagle's eyes.
This was the first time he had seen the ocean of this world since arriving in it.
After a while, the Golden Eagle finished building its nest.
Ito Makoto ordered it to grow larger and take him for a flight over the sea.
The Golden Eagle's wingspan had grown to twenty-four meters. In the Ultraman World, it would be like a monster. Naturally, it was now large enough to carry him.
Sitting on the Golden Eagle's back as it soared over the sea, he felt the ocean breeze on his face. It was a wonderful experience.
In the world of Naruto, very few ninja could fly. With the Golden Eagle, he had made up for one more of his weaknesses.
In the future, even if he didn't want to take part in those great battles, he could take his family with him and fly anywhere on the Golden Eagle. No one would be able to do a thing about it.
After flying around with the Golden Eagle for a while, Ito Makoto released the Reverse Summoning Jutsu and returned home.
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